Faking it : The "Rock Chick" edition

Message Bookmarked

Bookmark Removed

Channel 4 last night.

Choirgirl/virgin/rock music hater has to impress 3 judges into thinking she's the real deal.

She gets 'help' from Harry, a lapsed 'goodgirl' now a full-on rock chick, and various other.

But refuses to get madly drunk and/or screw, and writes her own song. She ends up doing reasonably, but does not fool the judges (except for bananaramawoman).

Open to the floor...

― mark grout (mark grout), Wednesday, 11 February 2004 09:44 (twenty-two years ago)

i was at the show where she had to perform against 3 other 'real' bands. they were all really bad. i don't know what this means. i love faking it.

― pete b. (pete b.), Wednesday, 11 February 2004 09:58 (twenty-two years ago)

I thought band three were absolute pants, the first two bands at least had their shit together...

― mark grout (mark grout), Wednesday, 11 February 2004 10:02 (twenty-two years ago)

it seems like the show was a disaster? how to be rubbish like harry?

― ha ha, Wednesday, 11 February 2004 10:08 (twenty-two years ago)

mmm, as opposed to: how to be rubbish in a different way to Harry

― mark grout (mark grout), Wednesday, 11 February 2004 10:19 (twenty-two years ago)

What or who is Harry supposed to be? Another Wendy James or a Courtney wannabe? Her flat looked suspiciously tidy

― Robert Moore (treble), Wednesday, 11 February 2004 10:24 (twenty-two years ago)

faking it is one of the best programmes around, although i have a confession to make: i was flicking between facking it and theres something about mary, i only watched bits of it! im sorry! she weerent bad for a faker!

― gaol clichy (clichy), Wednesday, 11 February 2004 10:26 (twenty-two years ago)

Wendy James? Yeah. I'd be that for 5p.

Who were the other bands?
Where did they play?

― a ha, Wednesday, 11 February 2004 10:27 (twenty-two years ago)

facking it is a different program.

Harry was on TV a bit, early last year, playing up the "Harry = Debbie Harry" similarities...

― mark grout (mark grout), Wednesday, 11 February 2004 10:29 (twenty-two years ago)

They went out ligging to the Brixton Academy with Karen O. Couldn't work out who was on (Marilyn Manson??). Anyway, Harry and Karen were up there quaffing at the bar while choirgirly looked on all bemused. She was probably thinking 'I ain't gonna show myself up like those two'. I was inclined to agree.

― Robert Moore (treble), Wednesday, 11 February 2004 10:43 (twenty-two years ago)

My impression at the end was "Yeah, we proved that you can't be a full on rock chick it takes years of living the life and attitude and yeah we roxor and that"

Its like a lot of people involved in the 'creative' arts get very defensive at the suggestion that someone off the street can come and do their thing successfully...

Actors, Dancers, 'high level' musicians, you know...

― mark grout (mark grout), Wednesday, 11 February 2004 10:46 (twenty-two years ago)

But there have been so many great fakers in rock music haven't there?

― Robert Moore (treble), Wednesday, 11 February 2004 10:57 (twenty-two years ago)

Gimme a ferinstance..

― mark grout (mark grout), Wednesday, 11 February 2004 10:58 (twenty-two years ago)

Errrr.... Julian Casablancas and his lot. Didn't they all go to Swiss boarding schools or something?

― Robert Moore (treble), Wednesday, 11 February 2004 11:15 (twenty-two years ago)

Yeah, but then rehearsed/practiced/played toilets/did the 'real' experience...

― mark grout (mark grout), Wednesday, 11 February 2004 11:16 (twenty-two years ago)

but they seemed to arrive fully formed, styled up, celebrity girlfriends in tow, with all the right bits in place. At least people like Brett Anderson (don't laugh) had 'real' dodgy pasts playing The Bull & Gate wearing flared(!) jeans.

― Robert Moore (treble), Wednesday, 11 February 2004 11:27 (twenty-two years ago)

Everyone fakes it to an extent.

Right things in place: there's enough bands with not all the right things in place (monkeys/typewriters situation)

Rock bands tend to have good looking girlfriends, that's how it goes..

How many bands/artists fake it to a larger extent and retain any kind of critical approval?

― mark grout (mark grout), Wednesday, 11 February 2004 11:31 (twenty-two years ago)

the strokes did spend months toiling on the New York toilet scene before coming here, declared stars by the NME before their first UK shows. but the celeb girlfriends didn't arrive until the summer afterwards, if memory serves...

― stevie (stevie), Wednesday, 11 February 2004 11:34 (twenty-two years ago)

Paying your dues is well overrated anyway. The problem with most of the people you're thinking of (who've come through in the last coule of years, at any rate) is that they're completely talentless, not that they're 'fake' whatever that means.

― DJ Mencap (DJ Mencap), Wednesday, 11 February 2004 11:46 (twenty-two years ago)

The Rolling Stones were fakes because they were not former plantation workers from the Mississippi delta. MC Hammer was fake because he didn't grow up doing MC battles in the South Bronx. Shane Macgowan was fake because he went to an English public school. Oh, I don't know .........

― Robert Moore (treble), Wednesday, 11 February 2004 11:46 (twenty-two years ago)

but when it comes to 'living' the life as well as 'presenting' it as entertainment, all the above qualify... (excl MC Hammer possibly, I don't know)

― mark grout (mark grout), Wednesday, 11 February 2004 11:49 (twenty-two years ago)

Macgowan and Keith Richards have lived their lives through a perpetual haze of drink and drugs. Yes, all part of the rock n roll mythology that both of these men (and last night's programme) peddle. But not many of us would even survive let alone lead a normal existence subjected to that kind of self-abuse. How 'real' is that?

― Robert Moore (treble), Wednesday, 11 February 2004 12:27 (twenty-two years ago)

neither leads a 'normal' existence, though, and it is the escapism their patently non-real lives offer that many want to buy into.

― stevie (stevie), Wednesday, 11 February 2004 12:30 (twenty-two years ago)

Also their often good records, yeah?

― Silly Sailor (Andrew Thames), Wednesday, 11 February 2004 12:32 (twenty-two years ago)

But if you wanted to be 'faking' marilyn manson onstage, surely studying the music would be worth more than affecting a drug habit?

― mark grout (mark grout), Wednesday, 11 February 2004 12:38 (twenty-two years ago)

why is class so important to be 'real'? The talent to write good music isn't related to the way you were brought up, so it shouldn't really be that important when you're listening for the music.

― jellybean (jellybean), Wednesday, 11 February 2004 12:40 (twenty-two years ago)

Well thank goodness the girl survived the scuzzing up of her soul
She was a great singer in her own right as we saw at the beginning.
I didn't want her to get drawn to the dark side. Specially when its inhabited by feebs like Harry. "WERE FUCKED! FUCK! WERE FUCKED! she yelped during the gig, obviously a past master at this 'rock-chick' malarkey. If my teeth had been more on edge they would have jumped off. Wash your mouth out woman, you're on television. Guh.

― pete s, Wednesday, 11 February 2004 12:43 (twenty-two years ago)

Stevie - I always thought that 'realness' (and I don't mean of the dadrock variety) was something that you and your colleagues were into pushing at CTCL. ET would often talk about the fakeness (I'm paraphrasing) of the so-called NME bands in his editorials.

― Robert Moore (treble), Wednesday, 11 February 2004 12:44 (twenty-two years ago)

I think it was more the lameness of them, really. See my point above

― DJ Mencap (DJ Mencap), Wednesday, 11 February 2004 12:51 (twenty-two years ago)

Choirgirl into rockstar- Axl Rose, surely?

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Wednesday, 11 February 2004 12:56 (twenty-two years ago)

Axl Rose is the biggest faker of the lot according to John Lydon.

― Robert Moore (treble), Wednesday, 11 February 2004 12:59 (twenty-two years ago)

you'd have to ask ET about that, there was no hivemind at CTCL and 'realness' is certainly not a huge deal to me.

― stevie (stevie), Wednesday, 11 February 2004 13:02 (twenty-two years ago)

whats makes axl rose a faker?

(i mean *apart* from the in-the-closet aspect allegedly)

― piscesboy, Wednesday, 11 February 2004 13:55 (twenty-two years ago)

Well, he was wearing a wig for a while there

― DJ Mencap (DJ Mencap), Wednesday, 11 February 2004 14:06 (twenty-two years ago)

Harry got pissed off cus the girl would not sing one of harry's songs.

Not cause Harry would get exposure for her song.

But because Laura Jane would blow the myth that a total beginner could not write a halfway decent rock lyric just because she wanted to.

― mark grout (mark grout), Wednesday, 11 February 2004 14:14 (twenty-two years ago)

hrrm, wonder when we'll get that episode here? i don't watch Faking It regularly, but select episodes are fun.

particularly liked the one where the punk kid was made over into a world-class orchestra conductor. that was fairly unbelievable.

― janni (janni), Wednesday, 11 February 2004 15:32 (twenty-two years ago)

I quite fancied LJ. Who the f-ck is 'Harry' anyway? And the singing teacher - oh lord!

― Dr. C (Dr. C), Wednesday, 11 February 2004 15:48 (twenty-two years ago)

Funny programme. Always rigged though, especially in the ones where the person won't play along - ie like last night. You can always tell cos there's always a truly embarassing other contestant to let them off the hook a bit.

― Jim Robinson (Original Miscreant), Wednesday, 11 February 2004 17:34 (twenty-two years ago)

As for the 'realness' thing, surely that argument is a little redundant. Especially when its used to glamorise 'paying your dues' or some approximation of it - including pretending 'underground' is a good thing in itself.

― Jim Robinson (Original Miscreant), Wednesday, 11 February 2004 17:37 (twenty-two years ago)

I felt that the teachers had a cliched view of rock, and didn't realise that the choir girl totally rebelled against them, which is like totally rock, innit? I mean most of the best rock stars are tea total golfers now anyway.

― jel -- (jel), Wednesday, 11 February 2004 17:43 (twenty-two years ago)

I was impressed by Harry's Louise Wener-like approach to her age, ie she is apparently 22, although she looks say a decade older than that.

― M Carty (mj_c), Thursday, 12 February 2004 10:38 (twenty-two years ago)

The singing teacher was surely Carol Decker with added male hormones.

― mms (mms), Thursday, 12 February 2004 11:14 (twenty-two years ago)

mms otm that was bugging me...

― mark grout (mark grout), Thursday, 12 February 2004 12:15 (twenty-two years ago)

I was thinking more Charlie Dimmock myself...

Funnily enough, I was standing next to L-J at Marilyn Manson's gig at Brixton last year - Channel 4 were filming her and Harry "rocking out" and the director kept saying, "Can you do the devil sign with your hand again? We missed it." Hilarious.

― CharlieNo4 (Charlie), Thursday, 12 February 2004 12:19 (twenty-two years ago)

Harry is a Camden groupie of some years' standing; she was sued by the relevant film studio for using the name 'dirty Harry'. Rumour was, voice coach is the whoaaaaaa, Bodyform! jingle singer.

― suzy (suzy), Thursday, 12 February 2004 13:53 (twenty-two years ago)

I take it I missed the discussion about the mousy classical cellist cum pretty dj?

― roxymuzak (roxymuzak), Thursday, 12 February 2004 18:49 (twenty-two years ago)

Well, my take on that one was that as classical cellist, she probably had (and so it proved) to have a really good handle (or potential) to understand dance music and to be a good DJ.

World her oyster. As opposed to an S club loving convent girl.

― mark grout (mark grout), Thursday, 12 February 2004 19:00 (twenty-two years ago)

eight years pass...

revive!

I found this series is being repeated on the Community channel, of all places.

So, I set the tivo to record the lot.

Doubtless, I'll get 100 recordings of the same episode! The one that got taken so far is the very same "mousy cellist becomes a DJ"

― Mark G, Thursday, 5 July 2012 08:39 (thirteen years ago)

You must be logged in to post. Please either login here, or if you are not registered, you may register here.